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How did Michigan get $300 million in grocery money to 900,000 kids by the end of May while Minnesota has struggled to implement the same program for 350,000 kids (and won't get funds out till the end of August)? Michigan had a better process every step of the way.
Thread.
Michigan was the first state to get approved for the Pandemic-EBT program in late March.
Minnesota was the 37th state approved at the end of May.
Minnesota was the 37th state approved at the end of May.
Michigan decided to NOT require an application for eligible families because to qualify students were already certified for free/reduced price meals.
Minnesota collects the same data as Michigan and STILL chose to require an application.
Check the attached for why that's bad
Minnesota collects the same data as Michigan and STILL chose to require an application.
Check the attached for why that's bad
Since Michigan *JUST MAILED THE CARDS TO ELIGIBLE FAMILIES* rather than required duplicative applications, they only had to focus on families with new addresses.
Of the 900,000 cards that were mailed, ONLY 5,000 were returned (.005%)
MN tried to certify 350,000 applications.
Of the 900,000 cards that were mailed, ONLY 5,000 were returned (.005%)
MN tried to certify 350,000 applications.
Michigan took an "all hands on deck" approach to get money to hungry families.
P-EBT was not a government priority in MN as evidenced by its late application, clunky certification plan, and an overly-optimistic and arbitrary application deadline that ended up being extended.
P-EBT was not a government priority in MN as evidenced by its late application, clunky certification plan, and an overly-optimistic and arbitrary application deadline that ended up being extended.
MN will likely forfeit MILLIONS of $ intended to feed hungry kids back to the federal government because of the choices the state made in how implement this program.
The hope is that PEBT will be renewed in this round of congressional stimulus. If so, MN needs a better approach.
The hope is that PEBT will be renewed in this round of congressional stimulus. If so, MN needs a better approach.
This report by @NewAmericaPIT lays out how Michigan got this right.
“It has truly been a blessing with me having 5 kids at home out of school it would have been very hard to feed them full time without the P-EBT” https://www.newamerica.org/public-interest-technology/reports/it-has-meant-everything-how-p-ebt-helped-families-in-michigan/
“It has truly been a blessing with me having 5 kids at home out of school it would have been very hard to feed them full time without the P-EBT” https://www.newamerica.org/public-interest-technology/reports/it-has-meant-everything-how-p-ebt-helped-families-in-michigan/
...just in case anyone made it to the end of this thread, for a look into what Minnesota did, you'll have to read this story by @natalie_allison + @Tennessean about Tennessee who took the same approach as Minnesota while hungry kids pay the price. https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/30/tennessee-may-forfeit-60-m-pandemic-ebt-funds-applications-stall/5535427002/
